Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates/5 January 2010

2010 Solomon Islands earthquake[edit]

2010 Solomon Islands earthquake
- Support: I suggest the two major earthquakes and tsunami which struck the Solomon Islands earlier this week. This earthquake has largely been ignored in the news so far, but damage and casuality reports are still coming in from remote islands. Scanlan (talk) 04:14, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose right now it seems relatively minor (in terms of damage and causalities). If more info comes in, I could change my mind. ~ DC (Talk|Edits) 05:33, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose - TouLouse (talk) 05:50, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose per limited significance. Nirvana888 (talk) 02:11, 7 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Mine fire[edit]

Colliery fire traps 27 Chinese miners — Cargoking talk 14:36, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Are they dead, or just trapped? Spencer^{T♦Nominate!} 21:23, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

At least 25 dead — Cargoking talk 12:13, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Iceland referendum[edit]

More bizarreness from the middle of the North Atlantic, Iceland is now to hold a referendum on whether to repay a €3.8bn loan from the UK and the Netherlands. Any support for running the story now, or should we wait until the referendum result? (opinion polls are currently at 70% in favour of keeping the money and not repaying). Physchim62 (talk) 13:32, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Wait. But when the results are known, post. He didn't say when the referendum will take place, did he? --Tone 13:38, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

No, it's up to the government to organise the referendum, which must be "as soon as circumstances permit" according to Iceland's constitution (Art. 26). I would guess that they will wait until the spring, given winter weather in Iceland – that would also give the government more time to convince voters that they really have no choice but to pay the money back… Physchim62 (talk) 13:53, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support I definitely support having this story in ITN. Considering the extremely crass reaction from Britain when the Icelandic banks originally defaulted on their British counterparts this stance by the Icelandic president is extremely bold. __meco (talk) 14:25, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I suppose you could say that taking €3.8bn (more than €10,000 for every Icelander) – and then pretending that you don't have to pay it back – is pretty bold! Pity the poor Icelanders who now realise that there's no such thing as free money… There's an article taking shape at Icelandic debt repayment referendum, 2010 in any case. Physchim62 (talk) 14:53, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm inclined to wait for the referendum. Modest Genius ^talk 17:14, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Now the article is in decent shape, I'm going to switch from just flying a kite to saying support. I can understand the normal desire to wait for hard results in cases like this, but I think that this case is a little different. If Icelanders vote to pay the money back, that is hardly a news story. The news story is really here and now, when the President of Iceland has refused to sign the law which regulates the repayments, forcing the referendum. Physchim62 (talk) 23:00, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose wait til something happens. ~ DC (Talk|Edits) 05:34, 6 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support. This is the story now. When the referendum occurs, that will be a new story. Each story may be ITN-worthy. In my view, this one is. GreenGourd (talk) 00:29, 7 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Death of Johan Ferrier[edit]

First President of Suriname dies at age 99. Article needs major update. TouLouse (talk) 07:33, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support when ready. --can dle •wicke 08:09, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Support. There is now a photo also. Arsonal (talk) 08:31, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think that is all the information available in the English language. Suggest:

 Johan Ferrier, (pictured) first President of Suriname and the world's oldest living former head of state, dies in the Netherlands at the age of 99.

--can dle •wicke 09:07, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

(ec) The article is really short, if expanded, I support. --Tone 09:11, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose, I can't see how this gentleman meets the death criteria. He would also be our third ex-president to dies of natural causes in less than a month. Physchim62 (talk) 13:20, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose. This would only add to the ongoing trend of degrading the integrity of ITN by featuring stories that are basically non-important. __meco (talk) 17:38, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose, we really shouldn't be featuring any and every former head of state who dies of natural causes. Modest Genius ^talk 17:08, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose per above. Wizardman _{Operation Big Bear} 17:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose — if we hadn't already featured as many (dead former leaders) I'd support. Cargoking talk 17:49, 5 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]